Last Friday, I had the honor of join-ing Bureau of Wastewater Treatment (BWT) Assistant Commissioner of Operations John Petito, P.E., to welcome 31 new Sewage Treatment Workers (STW) to DEP. In order to ensure that the STWs are prepared to safely perform the myriad of highly specialized and complex tasks nec-essary to collect and treat the 1.3 bil-lion gallons of wastewater produced in New York City every day, they com-pleted a mandatory five-week orien-tation program on a wide variety of topics including worker safety, waste-water treatment plant operations, and maintenance. The new STWs will im-mediately be assigned to our collec-tion facilities and 14 wastewater treat-ment plants. I’d like to thank the BWT staff who served as trainers and hope everyone will join me in welcoming the new STW’s to DEP.The new graduates are: Luis Acosta, Linden R. Alphonso, Paul Amonds, Rocco Amoroso, Royston V. Bacchus, Yevgeniy Batanov, Alfonso Cammarata, Christopher A. Capece, Erik J. Climent, Jack

Columbano, Vincent Demarco, John J. Gannon, Nicholas T. Lombardi, Vadym Mato, Eamonn Melly, Stephen C. Miller, Gerlando Minio, Loran D. Moon, Fritzner Morency, Robert E. Murtha,Paul P. Mutze, Brian O’Connell, Robert J. Orloff, Trevor Rodrigues, Luigi A. Sanelli, Parmanand Sankar, Keith L. Spellman, Lyndon Swan, Robert Vitale, Charles D. Zanfordino, and Donald S. Zimmerman.The following BWT staffers also attended the graduation at the Red Hook Wastewater Treament Plant: Nazim Hodzic, Aderemi Ajala & Kalita Mohammed—BWT EHS Training Staff; William Yulinsky, P.E., Director, EHS Compliance; Edward Wright, SSTW, Safety & Health Section; Fay Jacques, Chief, Administration & Payroll Section; Jim Miccio, Chief, Training & Development Section, Joseph Reddington, Chief, Safety & Health Section; and Diane Hammerman, P.E., Director, Regulatory Compliance & Administration

Volume VII • Issue 340July 12, 2016PIPELINEWEEKLY

Bill de Blasio, MayorVincent Sapienza, P.E., Acting Commissioner

Three Bureau of Water Supply co-workers recently summited one of the highest mountains

in the United States during a thrilling expedition that started because of the friendship they developed at work. And once they reached the peak of Mount Adams, the trio temporarily unfurled a DEP flag to show their pride.The trek included Danyelle Davis and Dennis Dempsey, both of whom work in the stream manage-ment program, along with Dean Giuliano from water quality. All work in DEP’s Kingston office.

In June, the three flew to Wash-ington State in hopes of climbing to the peak of Mount Rainier, the highest mountain in Washington and the 22nd highest peak in the United States. Before they made an attempt at the big ascent, the co-workers first hiked to the top of Mount Adams. Mount Adams is

no slouch. Its peak is 12,281 feet above sea level and the round-trip hike takes approximately 24 hours. It is also known for its “topographic prominence,” which means it ap-pears to rise out of nowhere. In fact, Mount Adams is more than 8,000 feet higher than the land that sur-rounds it, and the next prominent peak is more than 45 miles away. “That’s the first thing you notice,” Dempsey said. “You wonder who painted it there. It doesn’t look real.”Unfortunately, their attempt to sum-mit Mount Rainier later that week was foiled by bad weather. They hiked several miles through sleet, rain, snow, and high winds to reach Camp Muir, the last refuge before ascending toward the peak. A foot of snow fell during the night, before the trio set out toward the sum-mit at 3 am. Ultimately, the threat of avalanche conditions turned them around.Davis, Dempsey, and Giuliano developed a friendship at DEP through their common love of hik-ing. After being roped together in near-blizzard conditions on Mount Rainier, Dempsey said he never would have mustered up the cour-age to try the expedition if it weren’t for his workplace pals.“This trip never would have hap-pened if I hadn’t been working here,” Dempsey said.

Commissioner’s CornerDEP Reaches New Heights

At DEP, everyone is responsible for safety. If you or anyone on your team is concerned about your working conditions, it’s okay to ask your supervisor or your bureau’s EHS liaison how they can help. If you’ve still got questions, you can call the EHS Employee Concerns Hotline. It’s DEP’s responsibility to acknowledge and fix unsafe situations, procedures, and practices. With your help, we’ll not only get the job done, we’ll make it safer for ourselves, our coworkers, our families, and our city. CALL (800) 897-9677 OR SEND A MESSAGE THROUGH PIPELINE. HELP IS ON THE WAY.

Summer is already upon us. It is the season to trim overgrown veg-etation and remove weeds. Facility building perimeters, parking lots, and outdoor working areas are examples of locations that could require landscaping to remove overgrown vegetation. Overgrown vegetation presents conditions for pest harborage, including rodents, mosquitos, and other bugs. The dried vegetative growth may also create combustible material, which

is a fire hazard. The New York City Fire Code requires vegetation that is capable of being ignited to be regularly maintained or removed at least 10 feet from buildings and structures.In addition, branches and vines can create a potential tripping haz-ard in walkways and paths. Once any vegetation is removed, the de-bris should be promptly disposed of, or properly composted to avoid creating additional conditions for pest harborage.

Overgrown Vegetation

Spotlight On Safety

Last weekend, DEP Police Sgt. Thomas Reis led a Safety and Survival Hike for members of the public at Shavertown Trail near Pepacton Reservoir. Sgt. Reis demonstrated basic compass and map use, stressed the importance of being prepared for heat and weather emergencies, and talked about how best to avoid poi-sonous plants. After the discussion, the group embarked on a two-mile hike.

Watershed Safety

We welcome your feedback! To submit an announcement or suggestion, please email us at:

newsletter@dep.nyc.gov.

DEP will host Family Fishing Day at Lake Gleneida in Carmel on Saturday, July 16. The event is being co-sponsored by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, which will supply fishing poles and bait to those who do not have their own. Families that have their own tackle are encouraged to bring it. As part of the “I Fish NY Program,” the New York State fishing license requirement is waived for adults who want to fish during this event. Adults who do not have a free DEP Access Permit are encouraged to get one before coming to the event. Participants can get their free permit and print it from home by visiting: nyc.gov/dep/accesspermit. The event will take place from 9 am to 2 pm and parking is located along the lake on Route 6. For more information about the event, call DEP fisheries biologist Tom Baudanza at (845) 340-7857.

Go Fish

DEP is moving into the next phase of construction for the release works at Schoharie Reservoir, the City's northernmost reservoir in the water supply system. In this photo, a drill rig is gathering samples of soil and rock below Schoharie Reservoir to prepare for the construc-tion of a tunnel that will release water from the reservoir into Schoha-rie Creek. The rig, which is set on a barge, was scheduled to perform as many as seven borings, each of them collected from depths of more than 100 feet below the reservoir bed. Information gathered from the borings will help create a plan for the micro-tunneling ma-chine that will be used create the release tunnel. The $142 million project is expected to finish by 2020.

Schoharie Release Works

Yesterday, 31 new employees attended orientation and received an overview of the department from Acting Commissioner Vincent Sapienza and Deputy Commissioner for Organizational Development Diana Jones Ritter. We hope everyone will join us in welcoming them to DEP.Gaby Navarrete and Dennis Vargas with BCS; Christopher Cheng with BEDC; Nikita Perminov, Khandader Rahman and Utpol Roy with BPS; Richard Cardazone and Servpreet Narula with BWS; Faozia Akther, Jason Barnes, Wendell Barrington Jr., Stephen Flemming, Luis Florimon, Dwayne Francis, Moses Godson, Ronald Gordon, Jenerious Mathews, Julian Orozco Pabon, Luis Peralta, Christopher Quigley, James Regan, Alfred Rezk, Paul Salmonese, Michael Sirico, Nicholas Spitaletta, and Jorch Torres with BWSO; Michael Raspanti and Shang Yang with BWT; Michelle Rivers with CDBG; Grace Franco and Erundina Peralta with OD&HR.

Welcome Aboard!Come to Thursday’s brown bag lunch event to learn how Acting Chief Financial Officer Joseph Murin, Deputy Commissioner for the Bureau of Customer Services Nancy Cianflone, and Deputy Commissioner for Labor Relations and Discipline David Cohen climbed their respective career ladders. The event will be from 12 to 1 pm in the Rego Center Community Room, located off Horace Harding Expressway, on 97th Street, near ALDI.

Moving On Up